WHEN the long, grim history of Christianity’s disappearance from the Middle East is written, Ted Cruz’s performance last week at a conference organized to highlight the persecution of his co-religionists will merit at most a footnote. But sometimes a footnote can help illuminate a tragedy’s unhappy whole. For decades, the Middle East’s increasingly beleaguered Christian Read more
Anglican Archbishop Winston Halapua has asked all parishes in the Diocese of Polynesia to pray for the safe release of 44 Fijian soldiers held captive by a militant rebel group in the Golan Heights. “We join with our leaders and with all people of faith in Fiji to pray for our soldiers who have been Read more
Three years ago, the Islamic State (Isis) did not exist; now it controls vast swathes of Syria and Iraq. Showing off its handiwork daily via Twitter and YouTube, Isis has repeatedly demonstrated that it is much more than a transnational terrorist organisation – rather, it is an entity with sophisticated command, control, propaganda and logistical Read more
“Christianity, the world’s most persecuted religion, now risks being wiped out in countries where until recently it has been well established,” declares a new report from Aid to the Church in Need. “Oppression and exodus now threaten Christianity’s status as a worldwide religion.” The Catholic charity, which operates directly under the Holy See, said over Read more
The Catholic Church has become increasingly troubled by the rise of Islamic fundamentalism in the Middle East, a Catholic news editor said. Father James Mulford, publisher of Zenit News Agency, told NewsMax that the violence in the Middle East has become “a major concern” for the Church. “It’s a major concern and Pope Francis and Read more
The leader of the Maronite Catholic Church has announced plans for a meeting of all Orthodox and Catholic patriarchs of the Middle East. Cardinal Bechara Boutros Rai, one of the four leaders of Eastern Catholic Churches who will be taking part in the conclave to elect the new pope, said the aim would be “to Read more
The message of Melkite Patriarch Gregory III Laham, the spiritual head of Lebanon’s second largest Catholic community, has mysteriously disappeared from a Catholic website, just hours after if first appeared, reports Vatican Insider. Patriarch Gregory III Laham will be the first to address the pope during a welcome ceremony and according to his disappeared statement will ask Read more
Pope Benedict XVI will visit Lebanon from the 14th to the 16th September. The announcement was made in two separate statements by the Presidency of the Republic of Lebanon and the Lebanese Bishop’s Office for Communications on the very day the Pope appealed for peace in the Middle East and the Holy Land. The Holy Read more